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ESSAY 


WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD, 


THE  WAY  TO  RELIEVE  THEM. 


BY  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  NEVIN3,  A.  M. 

Pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Baltimore. 


WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD,  &c. 


It  was  in  view  of  tlie  multitudes  on  every  side,  who 
had  none  to  feed  them  with  spiritual  food,  and  to  direct 
them  in  the  way  in  whicli  they  should  go,  and  were 
famished  and  wandering-  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd, 
that  our  Saviour,  moved  with  compassion,  said  to  his  dis- 
ciples, "  The  harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  but  the  labourers 
are  few.  Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that 
he  icill  send  forth  labourers  into  his  harvest." 

The  moral  aspect  of  the  world  g-enerally,  and  of  every 
large  section  of  the  inliabited  world  in  particular, 
makes  now  as  strong  an  appeal  to  the  compassions  of 
Christ,  as  did  once  the  exhibition  which  he  saw  around 
him,  as  he  travelled  through  the  land,  that  was  the 
scene  of  his  personal  ministry.  Which  ever  way  the 
eye  of  the  observer  is  directed,  and  at  whatever  distance 
it  rests;  whether  he  look  northward  or  southward,  to  the 
east  or  to  the  west ;  whether  he  contract  his  field  of 
vision  to  the  neighbourhood  in  which  he  lives,  or  enlarge 
it  to  embrace  the  entire  earth,  he  sees  the  same  painful 
and  pitiable  sight,  which  every  district  of  Palestine  pre- 


244  THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD, 

sented  to  the  eye  of  the  Redeemer.  He  sees  vast  multi- 
tudes of  human  beings,  in  the  impressively  figurative 
language  of  the  Saviour  "  scattered  abroad  as  sheep  hav- 
ing no  shepherd."  He  beholds  the  empire  of  truth  and 
righteousness  occupying  only  here  and  there  a  spot  of 
the  pe<ipled  globe,  while  all  the  immense  remainder  ap- 
pertains to  the  dominions  of  error  and  ignorance,  with 
which  impiety  and  immorality,  vice  and  crime,  reign  to- 
gether as  their  inseparable  co-partners.  He  perceives 
by  far  the  more  numerous  part  of  the  great  family  of 
man,  making  the  brief  pilgrimage  of  life,  under  every 
possible  disadvantage ;  without  any  cultivation  of  their 
minds ;  without  any  restraint  on  their  passions ;  without 
any  exercise  of  the  best  affections  of  the  heart;  without 
civilization  and  a  knowledge  of  the  practical  sciences, 
and  useful  arts  of  life ;  without  domestic  happiness ; 
and  in  short,  an  almost  utter  destitution  of  whatsoever 
gives  value  to  existence,  and  makes  this  mortal  career 
either  honourable  or  happy. 

The  statement  might  be  illustrated  and  confirmed  by 
apposite  facts,  but  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  you  are  fa- 
miliar with  them,  and  indeed  this  is  one  of  those  few 
propositions  to  which,  it  is  believed,  the  discordant 
minds  of  men  of  necessity  yield  their  unanimous  as- 
sent. 

My  object  now  is  not  to  cover  so  large  a  field  as  this. 
It  is  true,  there  is  a  dearth  of  every  kind  of  knowledge, 
a  famine  of  every  kind  of  intellectual  food,  a  deplorable 
lack  of  the  means  of  every  species  of  improvement, 
very  extensive  in  the  world ;  but  it  is  to  one  particular 


AND    WAY    TO    RELIEVE    THEM.  245 

kind  of  destitution  that  I  would  at  this  time  direct  your 
attention.  I  say,  then,  that  there  is  an  incalculable  num- 
ber of  intelligent  and  immortal  beings,  on  their  way  by 
death  to  the  judgment  seat  and  the  eternal  world,  who 
are  destitute  of  the  most  important  knowledge,  and  of 
the  only  effectual  means  of  moral  improvement.  They 
have  no  correct  notions  of  the  character  of  God.  They 
are  ignorant  of  themselves.  They  are  unacquainted 
with  any  way  of  salvation.  They  know  not — whether 
from  an  unwillingness  to  know,  or  an  impossibility  of 
knowing  it,  matters  not — the  details  of  their  duty  to 
their  Creator  and  their  fellow-creatures.  They  have  no 
knowledge  of  the  only  balm  of  life,  and  the  only  allevia- 
tion of  death.  They  do  but  conjecture  the  immortality 
of  the  soul.  They  are  ignorant  or  unmindful  of  their 
accountability  to  God.  They  are  unacquainted  with  or 
uninfluenced  by  the  most  effectual  motives  to  right  and 
virtuous  action.  They  know  not  the  fact  that  there  ex- 
ists a  revelation  from  God,  or,  if  aware  of  the  fact,  are 
not  informed  of  its  contents.  They  receive  no  repre- 
sentation of  them,  or  they  receive  a  misrepresentation  of 
them.  The  name  of  Christ  they  have  never  heard,  or 
they  have  only  heard  it.  They  know  not  that  there  is  a 
Holy  Ghost,  or  they  are  ignorant  of  his  oiBces,  and  of 
the  way  of  obtaining  his  gracious  influence.  They 
have  never  had  the  Gospel  preached  to  them,  or  they 
have  ceased  to  have  it,  or  they  have  it  at  such  distant 
intervals,  and  in  such  a  manner,  that  it  is  of  little  or  no 
benefit  to  them.  Such  is,  in  brief,  their  condition.  I 
have  purposely  made  the  statement  so  as  not  merely  to 


246  THE  WANTS  OF  THE  V^ORLD, 

embrace  the  Pagan  world,  but  to  comprehend  multitudes 
within  the  limits  of  Christendom,  and  many  in  our  own 
land.  Will  it  not  be  acknowledged,  that  those  who  an- 
swer to  this  description  are  destitute  of  the  most  impor- 
tant information,  and  of  the  most  valuable  moral  advan- 
tao-es;  and  can  it  be  denied  that  a  very  large  majority  of 
the  milHons  that  are  going  to  the  grave,  and  to  the  retri- 
butions that  are  beyond  it,  do,  in  the  main,  answer  to  this 
description  ?  How  few  of  the  eight  hundred  millions 
that  are  now  crossing  the  desert,  belong  to  the  caravan, 
which  the  column  of  cloud  and  fire  goes  before,  and  the 
spiritual  rock  follows ! 

But  much  more  is  implied  in  the  assertion,  "  the  har- 
vest truly  is  plenteous,"  than  that  there  are  extensive 
moral  wants  existing,  and  many  ungathered  millions 
that  are  wandering  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd.  It  is 
implied  that  there  is  a  capacity  in  these  necessitous  in- 
dividuals to  receive  the  necessary  information  and  ad- 
vantages ;  that  there  is  an  ability  and  an  opportunity  to 
impart  them;  that  there,  is  to  some  extent,  a  disposition 
and  an  expressed  desire  to  receive  them  ;  and,  in  tine, 
that  much  has  been  done,  in  removing  obstacles,  and  in 
preparing  the  way  for  what  now  rem.ains  to  be  done. 
It  is  only  on  this  ground  that  the  use  of  the  term  "  har- 
vest," in  reference  to  the  moral  condition  of  mankind, 
can  be  justified,  as  that  w^ord  imports  the  maturity  of 
something  that  has  long  been  in  progress.  There  is 
then,  I  affirm,  a  capacity  of  receiving.  The  Pagan  mind 
is  susceptible  of  all  the  illumination  which  the  Christian 
enjoys.     The  heathen   heart  is  as   convertible   as  any 


AND  WAY  TO  RELIEVE  THEM.  247 

Other.  Wliy  else  was  the  order  issued  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature,  and  the  oblig-ation  imposed  on 
the  Church  to  disciple  all  the  nations?  There  is  no 
soul  in  the  body  so  far  gone  in  error,  so  besotted  by  ig- 
norance, so  degraded  by  vice,  so  abandoned,  as  to  be  in- 
capable of  being  enlightened  by  the  truth  and  of  being 
influenced  by  the  principles  and  motives  of  the  Gospel, 
in  the  hand  and  under  the  ministrations  of  the  Spirit. 
The  Hindoo  of  the  lowest  caste,  and  even  the  Hottentot, 
lower  than  he,  and  last  upon  the  human  scale,  has 
been  raised  up  from  his  degradation,  and  been  made  to 
sit  in  heavenly  places  in  Christ  Jesus. 

There  is  also  an  ability  and  opportunitrj  to  impart. 
There  is  money,  and  there  are  men,  and  there  are  means 
of  communicating  with  every  country,  and  almost  with 
every  creature  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  world  was 
never  so  wealthy,  mankind  were  never  so  enterprising, 
and  the  facilities  of  intercourse  between  man  and  man 
have  been  increased  beyond  what  it  was  once  thought 
they  could  be.  The  Church  has  never  had  it  in  her 
power  to  discharge  her  responsibilities  to  the  world, 
with  anything  like  the  ease  and  cheapness  with  which 
she  can  do  it  now.  The  practicability  of  the  conversion 
of  the  world  need  no  longer  be  a  problem  with  the  most 
sceptical.  Conceive  the  difficulties  that  must  have 
stood  in  the  way  of  conveying  the  Gospel  from  Palestine 
to  Britain  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  the  time  that  must 
have  been  occupied,  (he  dangers  encountered,  the  self- 
denial  endured  ;  and  yet  it  was  done,  and,  peradventure, 
before  the  death  of  Paul.  What  want  we  but  the  same 
X 


248       THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD, 

constraining  love  in  our  hearts  to  convey  it  to  every 
land  ?  If,  with  all  the  disadvantages  of  that  age,  its 
sound  went  forth  in  all  the  earth,  and  its  words  to  the 
end  of  the  world,  is  there  any  insurmountable  difficulty 
in  making  it  extend  as  far  now  ?  What  section  of  the 
world  is  not  more  accessible  to  us  now,  than  Britain 
was  then  ?  There  is  scarcely  a  human  soul  that  can 
now  be  said  to  be  absolutely  out  of  our  reach.  A  single 
Christian  may  now  literally  make  his  benevolence  to  be 
felt  to  the  very  ends  of  the  earth.  His  prayers  could  al- 
ways embrace  the  whole  human  family.  His  influence 
may  now  raise  up  a  missionary  that  shall  erect  the 
standard  of  the  cross  on  tlie  most  distant  shore  :  and 
his  donation  place  a  Bible,  translated  into  his  own  pro- 
per tongue,  into  the  hands  of  the  most  remote  man. 

There  is  to  some,  indeed,  to  a  very  great  extent,  a  dis- 
position to  receive.  The  success  of  missions,  and  the  wel- 
come of  missionaries,  both  domestic  and  foreign,  prove 
this  incontestibly.  There  is  desire,  as  well  as  want.  From 
every  quarter,  particularly  of  our  own  land,  the  call  for 
teachers  of  religion  is  distinct  and  loud.  They  who  pre- 
side over  the  theological  training  of  youth,  receive,  if  I 
mistake  not,  applications  of  this  kind,  at  least  tenfold  more 
than  they  can  supply.  The  issues  of  Bi!)le  Societies  are 
inadequate  to  the  demands  for  the  Bible;  and  it  is  grate- 
fully received  in  many  cases,  even  by  those  v.'hose  creed 
seems  to  dispense  with  it  as  unneccessary.  Where  can- 
not a  pious  missionary  get  a  hearing,  and  gather  a  people  ? 
Where  can  the  population  be  found  that  will  not  receive 
and  cherish  him  ?  Who  tliat  has  travelled  through  our  land, 


AND  WAY  TO  RELIEVE  THEM.  249 

has  not  been  surprised  to  find  how  manjt  individuals, 
and  families,  and  villages,  there  are  in  all  its  length  and 
breadth,  whose  moral  state  is  such,  that  all  which  seems 
to  be  wanted  is  the  labourer  to  thrust  in  the  sickle  and 
reap  the  ripened  harvest?  A  multitude  of  facts  might 
be  adduced  in  proof  of  this  apeged  disposition  to  receive 
instruction.  What  a  moral  phenomenon  is  presented  in 
the  Sandwich  Islander  suing  for  schools,  and  the  native 
African  stealing  spelling-books  in  his  eagerness  to  learn  I 
Is  not  the  human  mind  every  where  waking  up,  and  a 
thirst  for  knowledge  commencing,  and  a  spirit  of  in- 
quiry going  out  I  Now  if  the  right  direction  be  given 
to  that  mind,  and  the  right  answer  to  that  inquiring 
spirit,  all  will  be  well ;  but,  if  otherwise,  it  had  better 
have  slept  on. 

I  remark  further,  that  a  great  deal  has  been  done,  and 
much  preparation  made  for  the  extensive  diffusion  of 
the  light  and  advantages  of  the  Gospel.  And  here  I 
would  bring  together  a  number  of  facts,  which  will 
have  no  other  connexion  with  each  other,  than  as  they 
serve  the  purpose  of  a  common  illustration.  The  human 
mind  is  more  awake  on  every  subject  than  it  has  been 
wont  to  be.  A  spirit  of  inquiry  and  investigation  has 
come  in  the  place  of  unquestioning  submission  to  dicta- 
tion.  This  is  a  fact  that  is  very  much  in  favour  of  the 
Gospel,  for  it  appeals  to  the  wakeful,  and  it  courts  in- 
quiry. Within  the  last  half  century,  a  most  im.portant 
experiment  has  been  made.  Infidelity,  as  a  substitute 
for  Christianity,  has  been  fairly  tried,  and  found  utterly 
wanting ;  and  there  is  less  danger  now  of  any  general 


350  THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD, 

return  to  that  chief  of  the  refuges  of  lies.  There  has,  in 
some  parts  of  our  own  country,  and  in  some  of  the  conti- 
nental kingdoms  of  Europe,  where  error  has  long  had  the 
dominion,  an  extensive  and  powerful  reaction  commenced 
in  favour  of  the  truth.  The  descendant  of  Abraham 
has  started  of  late  from  the  stupidity  of  eighteen  centu- 
ries, and  has  begun  to  look  about  him  :  and  though  he 
has  not  yet  asked  what  he  must  do  to  be  saved,  yet  he 
has  asked  a  question  which  is  preliminary  to  that.  He 
has  asked,  and  who  that  has  heard  of  it,  has  not  felt  his 
soul  thrilling  with  expectation,  what  his  sufferings 
mean?  He  has  begun  to  consider.  It  deserves  also 
to  be  mentioned,  that  the  various  systems  of  false  reli- 
gion are  loosening  their  hold  on  the  hearts  of  men;  and 
there  has  been  one  instance  of  an  idolatrous  people,  be- 
fore they  had  been  visited  by  Christian  missionaries,  re- 
nouncing their  idolatry,  and  destroying  those  objects  of 
worship  to  which  they  had  been  immemorially  devoted. 
The  signs  of  the  times  are  strongly  marked,  and  they 
are  unusual.  The  affairs  of  tlie  human  family  seem  to 
be  just  on  the  eve  of  some  great  moral  crisis.  Let  the 
Church  be  upon  the  look-out,  let  her  be  prepared  for 
action  1 

There  is  another  class  of  facts,  which  belongs  to  this 
^lace.  Within  the  last  thirty-five  years,  more  has  been 
done  by  Christians  for  the  advancement  of  the  cause  of 
truth  and  holiness,  than  was  done  in  all  the  centuries 
before.  The  work  of  translating  the  Bible  into  the  va- 
rious languages  of  men,  has  pz-oceeded  far,  and  missions 
iiave  gained  an  establishment  in  almost  all  the  most  im- 


AND  WAY  TO  RELIEVE  TIIEM.  251 

portant  locations  on  the  earth.  There  is  an  unwonted 
liberality  among  those  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
to  give  of  their  worldly  substance  to  multiply  his  tri- 
umphs, and  spread  the  news  of  salvation.  And  never 
went  there  so  many  prayers  into  the  ear  of  God  for  the 
speedy  dawning  of  the  latter-day  glory,  as  ascend  now ; 
and  the  cloud'  of  incense  that  rises  is  becoming  more 
dense  and  more  extended  every  day.  To  mention  but 
one  other  fact.  There  never  was  a  generation  coming 
up  the  acclivity  of  life  with  such  preparation  for  the 
saving  influences  of  the  Gospel,  with  so  much  know- 
ledge and  impression  of  its  truths.  It  is  a  fact  as  novel 
as  it  is  interesting,  that  in  Great  Britain  and  America 
alone,  something  like  one  million  five  hundred  thousand 
children  are  receiving  the  benefits  of  Sunday  School  in- 
struction. What  an  immense  harvest  are  not  these  in- 
stitutions thus  ripening  for  the  reaping !  I  have  ad- 
duced  these  facts  to  prove,  that  the  season  of  immaturity 
is  past,  and  that  the  harvest,  to  a  very  considerable  ex- 
tent, at  least,  is  already  ripe.  The  previous  labour  has, 
in  a  great  measure,  been  performed,  and  little  now  re- 
mains  but  to  thrust  in  the  sickle  and  reap.  The  labour 
that  remains  to  be  bestowed,  will  be  more  productive 
than  heretofore.  The  same  amount  of  talents  and  in- 
fluence in  the  Ministry,  if  controlled  by  piety,  is  likely 
to  accomplish  more  now,  than  it  has  ever  been  able  to 
do  in  time  past.  The  necessity  for  labourers  is  more 
urgent  now  than  ever  it  has  been  before,  because  it  is 
the  season  of  harvesting.  Causes  have  been  for  years 
and  centuries  past  in  silent  operation,  which  have  at 
X  2 


252  THE  WA?JTS  OF  THE  WORLD, 

length  brouglit  things  to  a  maturity,  when  the  most  ac- 
live  exertions  are  necessary  to  secure  the  fruits  that 
have  been  ripening.  The  season  of  the  maturity  of 
every  thing  is  short.  The  labour  must  be  bestowed  soon, 
or  it  will  come  too  late.  The  crisis  will  have  passed. 
The  harvest  will  have  ripened  into  rottenness,  and  not 
only  will  the  labour  that  has  been  expended  be  so  much 
lost,  but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  a  period  of  greater  and 
more  extensive  moral  corruption  will  ensue. 

Let  it  be  observed,  in  the  next  place,  that  the  harvest 
of  the  Lord  is  to  be  reaped  and  gathered  in  by  human 
labourers;  or,  in  other  words,  tlie  instructions  and  ad- 
vantages which  are  so  much  needed  by  mankind  are 
mainly  to  be  imparted  by  the  instrumentality  of  men 
devoted  to  this  work  ;  "  the  harvest  is  great,  but  the  la- 
bourers are  few,  pray  ye  the  Lord,  that  he  will  send 
forth  labourers."  This  is  the  plan  that  God,  in  his  wis- 
dom and  sovereignty,  has  adopted  for  the  propagation 
of  his  Gospel.  Why  he  has  adopted  this,  and  whether 
he  might  not  have  adopted  another  as  effectual,  are 
questions  in  which  we  have  no  concern.  It  is  suflicient 
that  of  all  the  methods  by  which  his  saving  truth  might 
have  been  communicated  and  impressed,  he  has  selected 
the  oral  method.  It  is  enough  that  it  pleases  him  by 
the  foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe ; 
and  that  he  hath  committed  to  men  the  ministry  of  the 
reconciliation  which  is  by  Christ,  thereby  constituting 
them  his  ambassadors  to  negotiate  between  him  and 
sinners.  God  has  uniformly  acted  in  pursuance  of  this 
plan.    The  reformations  v/hich  from  time  to  time  took 


AXD  WAV  TO  RELIEVE  TIIEM.  253 

place  among  the  Jews,  were  brouglit  about  chiefly  by 
the  preaching  and  personal  exertions  of  the  proplicts. 
Who  can  calculate  the  amount  of  influence  that  such 
men  as  Elijah,  and  he  on  whom  his  mantel  descended, 
exerted  among  their  colemporaries !  How  much  more 
deplorable  would  not  the  condition  of  Israel  have  been, 
humanly  speaking,  had  it  not  been  for  the  voice  and  ex- 
ample of  these  men  of  God !  And  the  same  kind  of 
remarks  might  be  made  in  reference  to  many  others. 
Such  was  the  excitement  produced  by  the  preaching  of 
John  the  Baptist,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  and 
all  Judea,  and  all  the  region  round  about  Jordan  were 
attracted  to  him ;  and  men  of  every  class,  pharisees, 
publicans,  and  even  soldiers,  came  inquiring  of  him  their 
duty,  and  were  baptized,  confessing  their  sins.  Does 
any  one  suppose  that  any  written  testimony  or  any 
printed  appeal  could  have  produced  such  effects  as  these  ? 
No,  nothing  but  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilder- 
ness, "prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,"  could  have 
done  it.  The  Lord  Jesus  himself  made  use  of  this 
method :  and  the  commission  which  he  gave  to  his 
Apostles,  and  which  v^all  remain  in  full  force  until  the 
Gospel  shall  have  filled  the  world,  enjoins  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel,  and  in  this  manner  the  disciplining  of  all 
nations.  So  the  apostles  understood  their  commission ; 
and  acting  upon  it,  they  were  successful.  The  preach- 
ing on  the  day  of  Pentecost  alone  was  blessed  to  tlie 
conversion  of  three  thousand  souls.  The  extensive 
triumphs  which  Jesus  Christ  won  among  the  Gentiles 
by  their  apostle,  were  efiected  through  the  preaching  of 


254  THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD, 

the  cross.  It  was  not  the  Eunuch's  reading-  of  Isaiah, 
that  was  blessed  to  his  conversion,  but  PhiUp's  ex- 
position and  enforcement  of  it.  Cornehus  was  admon- 
ished of  God  to  send  for  Peter,  wlio  should  tell  him 
words,  whereby  both  he  and  his  house  might  be  saved. 
The  injunction  might  have  been  communicated  in 
another  way,  in  the  vision  which  directed  him  to  send 
for  Peter ;  but  God  chose  to  communicate  it  in  this  way. 
So  the  Lord  opened  the  heart  of  Lydia  to  attend  unto 
the  things  that  were  spoken  by  Paul. 

It  may  be  supposed  by  some,  that  the  invention  of 
printing  was  intended,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to 
supercede,  in  a  great  measure,  the  oral  method  of  com- 
municating the  Gospel.  But  this  does  not  appear  to  be 
the  fact.  God  blesses  his  printed  Gospel,  but  he  blesses 
his  preached  Gospel  yet  more  abundantly.  The  preach- 
ing of  the  cross  is  still  his  unrepealed  ordinance  for  the 
conversion  of  souls.  It  is  found  that  not  where  there  is 
the  most  general  diffusion  of  the  Bible,  but  where  the 
Gospel  is  most  frequently  and  faithfully  preached,  there 
is  the  greater  number  of  conversions;  though  where  this 
is  the  case,  it  should  be  observed,  that  tliere  the  Word 
of  God  is  most  extensively  diffused,  and  most  attentively 
read.  To  mention  only  one  illustrative  fact,  there  were 
in  1630,  under  a  single  sermon  in  Scotland,  five  hundred 
persons  hopefully  translated  from  death  to  life. 

There  7nust  be  labourers,  then,  not  because  the  harvest 
of  the  Lord  cannot  be  gathered  in  without  them,  but  be- 
cause he  has  determined  that  it  shall  not  be.  God  is 
not  necessarily  dependent  on  the  utterance  and  exer- 


AND  WAY  TO  RELIEVE  THEM.  255 

tions  of  men,  but  he  has,  in  his  wisdom,  chosen  to  make 
himself  in  a  manner  dependent  on  them:  in  which,  how- 
ever, he  gives  up  none  of  his  sovereignty,  inasmuch  as 
he  can,  and  does  work  in  them  botli  to  will  and  to  do  of 
his  own  good  pleasure. 

It  has  occurred  to  me,  that  the  plan  which  is  getting 
into  general  use,  of  communicating  all  the  various  kinds 
of  knowledge  by  Lectures,  is  an  acknowledgment,  on 
the  part  of  men,  of  the  wisdom  of  the  divine  appoint- 
ment of  preaching,  as  the  principalmeans  of  enlight- 
ening and  converting  the  world. 

But  not  only  must  men  be  employed  in  this  work — 
some  men  at  least  must  be  devoted  to  the  work.  It 
must  be  their  sole  care,  their  only  business.  They  must 
give  themselves  wholly  to  it.  It  is  a  work  that  de- 
mands and  deserves  the  entire  time,  and  talents,  and 
toil  of  them  that  are  engaged  in  it.  This  seems  to  me 
to  be  implied  in  their  being  labourers,  and  especially  in 
their  being  harvesters.  There  is  no  period  when  the 
husbandman  is  so  singly  and  sedulously  employed  as  in 
the  time  of  harvesting.  The  reaping  and  the  gathering 
in,  occupy  the  whole  of  his  time  and  attention,  and  he 
works  longer  and  harder  now  than  ever.  It  is  neces- 
sary. The  grain  is  ripe,  and  the  season  is  brief,  and  he 
is  short  of  hands,  perhaps ;  and  he  is  willing  to  do  it. 
It  is  but  a  little  while  that  he  must  labour :  and  then 
will  come  the  season  of  safety  and  repose,  and  he  shall 
sing  the  harvest  home.  Brethren,  the  harvest  of  souls  is 
ripe ;  and  it  is  plenteous,  and  the  labourers  are  few, 
and  the  season  is  short.  The  fields  are  now  white,  but 
they  will  soon  change  their  colour.     If  it  is  the  season 


256  THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD, 

of  maturity  now,  the  period  of  putrescence  is  at  hand. 
7^he  labourers  must  be  multiphed,  and  they  must  work, 
and  work  hard.  Now  is  the  time,  and  they  ought  to  be 
willing-  to  do  it.  The  Church  might,  with  less  loss  and  less 
guilt,  have  taken  her  rest  in  time  past,  and  she  may  per- 
haps innocently  do  it  to  some  extent  in  the  time  to  come, 
in  the  sabbatic  period  which  she  is  anticipating,  but 
she  may  not,  must  not,  do  it  now.  Wo  to  them  that  are 
at  ease  in  Zion  now,  when  the  call  of  her  king  is  to 
reap  and  to  gather  in  the  ripened  harvest ! 

I  pass  to  another  observation.  It  is,  that  the  number 
of  labourers  employed  upon  the  harvest  of  the  Lord, 
bears  a  very  small  proportion  to  the  extent  of  the  har- 
vest, and  to  the  amount  of  labour  that  is  to  be  performed, 
and  that  behooves  to  be  performed  immediately,  "  But 
the  labourers  are  few.''^  At  that  time  they  were  abso- 
lutely few.  At  no  period  during  our  Saviour's  sojourn 
on  earth,  did  they  amount  to  one  hundred.  Besides  him- 
self,  the  twelve  apostles,  and  the  seventy  disciples,  who 
were  they  ?  What  is  the  state  of  things  now  ?  The 
labourers  are  numerically  many.  But  some  of  them  are 
unfaithful,  and  some  unskilful :  and  many  seem  not  to 
know  what  the  appropriate  work  of  the  Ministry  is. 
Subtract  these  that  have  either  not  the  will,  or  not  the 
knowledge,  to  do  the  Lord's  work,  and  who  tread  down 
the  harvest,  instead  of  reaping  and  gathering  it  in :  and 
if  still  there  are  many  left,  3'et  what  are  they  to  work 
on  a  Jleld  which  is  the  world,  almost  every  part  of 
which  is  compactly  covered  with  the  standing  harvest  ? 
What  call  a  few  dying  thousands  do  with  a  thousand 


AND  WAY  TO  RELIEVE  THEM.  257 

dying  millions !  There  must  be  more  labourers,  or  the 
consequence  is  inevitable  ;  all  the  previous  labour  will  be 
lost,  all  the  advantages  that  have  been  gained  hitherto, 
will  have  been  gained  to  no  purpose,  and  the  fruits  of 
the  harvest  will  perish.  How  much  has  already  per- 
ished for  tlie  mere  want  of  the  sickle !  And  how  fast 
it  is  hourly  going  into  a  state  of  putrescence!  Mankind 
are  dying  at  the  rate  of  many  thousands  a  day,  and  mul- 
titudes who  are  spared,  are  every  day  going  deeper  in 
sin.  There  must  be  more  labourers.  How  is  it  in  our 
own  country  ?  There  is  nothing  like  enough  labourers 
to  meet  the  desires  of  the  people  of  these  Stales;  how 
much  less  to  meet  their  wants,  which  far,  very  far,  ex- 
ceed their  desires!  There  are  by  no  means  so  many  as 
our  population  is  loilling  to  employ  ;  to  say  nothing  of 
the  number  that  ought  to  be  employed.  It  is  calculated 
that  five  thousand  Christian  labourers  are  needed  for  our 
country  alone,  to  supply  the  existing  want ;  and  then  five 
hundred  a  year  to  supplj'-  the  vacancies  occasioned  by 
death,  and  to  meet  the  increase  of  population,  which  is 
computed  to  be  at  the  rate  of  one  thousand  a  day.  I  have 
no  means  of  calculating  accurately  how  many  labourers 
are  annually  supplied,  nor  at  what  rate  their  number  is 
increasing.  This  however  is  certain,  that  at  the  present 
rate  of  increase,  they  can  never  overtake  the  wants  of 
the  country,  and  cannot  even  supply  the  yearly  defici- 
ency. The  evil  is  growing  upon  us.  The  melancholy 
disproportion  is  increasing;  and  it  will  go  on  increasing, 
until  there  is  more  prayerfulness,  and  self-denial,  and 
liberality,  among  the  lovers  of  Christ.    These  are  appal- 


258      THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WOLRD, 

ing  facts.  If  our  politicians  be  Christians,  it  must  make 
them  tremble  for  the  liberties  of  the  land,  to  see  this  great 
and  growing  disproportion ;  and  they  may  well  fear  lest 
another  experiment  should  be  made,  whether  civil  free- 
dom can  long  sustain  itself  without  the  aid  of  the  Gospel. 
If  the  facts  that  have  been  adduced,  have  made  that 
impression  upon  us,  which,  in  their  abstract  sense,  I 
think  they  ought,  we  shall  be  disposed  to  inquire,  what 
Jesus  Christ  would  have  his  disciples  do,  in  view  of  this 
extent  of  field,  and  abundance  of  harvest,  and  dearth  of 
labourers.  He  has  told  us  what  our  duty  is.  It  is  not 
to  rush  forth  self-moved  to  the  field,  and  to  undertake,  in 
all  our  own  unskilfulness,  to  cut  down  and  gather  in  the 
suffering  harvest.  No,  we  must  carry  the  matter  to 
Christ  first,  we  must  go  with  it  to  our  closets,  and  our 
knees.  "Pray  ye,  therefore,  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, 
that  he  will  send  forth  labourers  into  his  harvest."  It 
is  the  province  of  the  Lord  to  select  and  send  forth 
the  labourers.  No  man  may  put  in  the  sickle  to  reap 
here,  except  the  Lord  call,  and  appoint  him  to  the  work. 
No  man  may  take  the  honour  to  himself,  but  he  that  is 
called  of  God.  The  apostle  speaks  of  himself  and  his 
fellow-labourers,  as  of  God  put  into  the  Ministry.  Not 
but  that  there  is  something  in  furtherance  of  this  glo- 
rious ingathering,  which  every  Christian  may,  and 
should  do,  without  waiting  for  any  more  distinct  and 
definite  call  than  he  has  in  the  Bible.  There  is  some- 
thing, there  is  much,  which  it  is  both  his  privilege  and 
his  duty  to  do.  He  is  authorized  and  obligated  to  go  so 
far  sometimes  as  to  address  his  fellow-creatures  under 


AND  WAY  TO  RELIEVE  THEM.  259 

certain  circumstances,  on  tlie  subject  of  religion.  "Let 
him  tliat  heareth,  say  come."  The  qualifications  for 
repeating  is  only  to  have  lieard  the  report.  One 
must  be  careful  to  hear  distinctly  and  correctly,  before 
he  repeats  it.  Yet  it  must  be  confessed,  that  the  message 
which  the  passage  authorizes  him  to  deliver,  is  very 
simple.  It  is  only  to  say,  "  Come."  But  in  reference  to 
official  and  exclusive  labourers,  which  my  remarks  re- 
spect, they  must  be  sent  of  the  Lord.  They  may  not 
go  unsent ;  and  what  is  more,  if  they  understand  the 
nature  of  the  work,  and  consider  their  own  insufficiency 
for  it,  tliey  will  not  go  unsent.  They  will  want  the  in- 
clmation,  as  well  as  the  authority,  from  Christ.  In  the 
primitive  age  of  Christianity,  it  is  certain,  that  a  power- 
ful divine  impulse  was  necessary  to  induce  even  pious 
nien  to  engage  in  this  work.  The  disciples  are  com- 
manded to  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  would 
send  forth  labourers.  The  force  of  the  original  word  is 
not  preserved  in  the  translation.  It  implies  the  use  of 
some  sort  of  moral  violence.  Thrust  forth  expresses  it 
better.  There  was  a  disinclination  to  be  overcome.  The 
work  of  the  Ministry  was  then  one  of  great  toil,  self- 
denial,  and  danger.  Even  the  pious  heart  revolted  from 
it.  The  state  of  things  now  is  in  some  respects  different. 
The  ease,  the  credit,  and  the  emoluments  of  the  ministe- 
rial office  attract  many,  and  they  thrust  themselves  into 
it.  But  these  persons  do  not  the  work  of  the  Ministry. 
They  scarcely  know  what  it  is.  The  work  of  the  Min- 
istry, the  sowing  of  the  seed,  the  word  of  God,  and 
then  the  anxious  and  prayerful  waiting  for  the  growth, 
Y 


260  THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD, 

and  the  watering  with  tears,  and  then,  after  all,  the  gath- 
ering  in  of  the  ripened  fruit — this  care  of  immortal  in- 
terests is,  and  ever  will  be,  a  work  of  unequalled  arduous- 
ness  and  anxiety.  And  it  is  said,  that  no  class  of  men 
go  down  to  the  grave  so  prematurely  as  these.  The  re- 
mark is  not  made  in  commendation  of  those  who  sustain 
the  office  of  the  Ministry;  for  it  is  confessed,  tliat  they 
all  fall  short  of  this  work,  and  that  if  they  please  to  haz- 
ard  their  souls,  they  can  make  it  light  and  easy.  But  I 
speak  of  it  as  God  has  made  it,  and  I  say,  that  if  it  be 
fairly  viewed  and  well  understood,  there  is  a  shrinking  of 
the  soul  from  it,  which  nothing  but  a  divine  impulse  can 
overcome.  Such  labourers  as  will  work  hard,  and  faith- 
fully gather  in  the  harvest,  there  wants  a  supernatural 
influence  to  incline :  and  such,  we  are  directed  to  pray 
the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send  forth. 

There  is  no  being  so  much  interested  in  securing 
the  harvest  as  the  Lord  of  it.  It  is  the  very  joy  that 
was  set  before  him,  and  in  view  of  which  he  endured 
the  cross.  It  needs  no  persuasions  and  entreaties  to  in- 
duce him  to  send  forth  the  necessary  labourers.  And 
yet  he  makes  it  the  duty  of  Christians  to  pray  to  him  on 
this  behalf,  and  withholds  the  labourers  while  he  waits 
for  their  prayers.  Neither  the  twelve  nor  the  seventy 
were  sent  forth,  tintil  after  this  direction  was  given,  and 
I  suspect,  not  until  after  it  had  been  obeyed.  This  is 
another  interesting  arrangement  in  the  economy  of 
grace.  Here  again  God  suspends  the  success  of  the 
Gospel  on  the  will  of  man.  He  has  not  only  made  the 
reaping  of  the  harvest  dependent  on  the  exertions  of 


AND  WAY  TO  RELIEVE  THEM.  261 

men,  but  also  tlic  sending  of  the  labourers  on  the  pray- 
ers of  men.  lie  makes  Ministers  one  link  in  the  chain 
of  salvation,  and  he  makes  Christians  another;  and  if  in 
so  doing  he  gives  an  importance  to  us,  he  does  also  lay  a 
proportional  responsibility  upon  up.  It  is  an  honour, 
but  then  it  is  a  most  fearful  honour,  to  have  the  destinies 
of  immortal  beings  in  any  measure  suspended  on  our 
fidelity  ! 

I  would  ask,  if  this  duty  of  praying  for  an  increase  of 
labourers  is  attended  to  in  any  wise  as  it  ought  to  be  ? 
Is  it  not  greatly  neglected  ?  I  have  asked  myself  the 
question,  and  it  has  been  negatived.  How  is  it  with 
you  ?  Ask  ye  at  conscience,  and  hear  her  report.  Do 
we  not  forget  to  make  this  one  of  our  petitions  in  our 
daily  prayers?  There  must  be  labourers,  and  they 
must  be  sent ;  and  they  will  not  be  sent,  unless  we  pray 
that  they  may  be.  We  are  commanded  thus  to  pray. 
It  is  but  a  few  things  that  we  are  expressly  directed  to 
pray  for,  and  this  is  one,  as  being  an  object  of  pre-emi- 
nent importance.     Pray  ye,  then,  for  more  labourers. 

But  is  this  all  that  is  required  of  us  ?  I  imagine  not. 
It  is  rarely  our  duty  merely  to  pray  for  an  object.  It  is 
most  commonly  our  duty  to  do  something  more  for  it 
than  that.  There  are  very  few  interests  which  we  can- 
not  promote  in  other  ways,  than  by  our  prayers  merely ; 
and  if  we  are  disposed  to  promote  them  by  our  prayers, 
we  shall  be  disposed  to  promote  them  in  every  other  man- 
ner that  is  possible.  There  is  a  multitude  of  parts  in 
the  Christian  character,  and  a  beautiful  consistency  be- 
tween them.     It  is  not  the  shooting  up  and  spreading 


262  THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD, 

forth  of  a  solitary  virtue,  but  the  simultaneous  develop, 
ment  and  uniform  growth  of  a  multitude  of  virtues  and 
moral  excellencies. 

It  is  our  duty  and  our  delight  to  pray  that  labourers 
may  be  sent  forth ;  it  is  manifestly  our  duty,  and  ought 
to  be  our  delight  to  go  ourselves,  if  sent,  and  to  be  will- 
ing to  be  sent.  Consistency  requires  this.  You  pray 
God  to  select  and  send  forth  from  a  company,  of  which 
you  are  yourself  one.  This  implies  that  you  are  willing 
he  should  select  you.  But  if  obviously  it  be  not  your 
duty  to  engage  officially  in  this  work,  is  there  therefore 
nothing  remaining  for  you  to  do,  but  just  to  pray  that 
labourers  may  be  sent  forth  ?  Is  this  all  that  consis- 
tency requires  of  you?  It  is,  if  it  be  absolutely  all  that 
you  can  do.  Your  obligation  is  collateral  with  your 
ability.  But  you  can  do  more  than  this.  You  are 
bound  then  to  do  more  than  this.  You  can  encourage 
and  assist  others  to  engage  in  this  work.  Then  it  is 
your  duty  to  do  it.  If  there  be  those  who  seem  to  be 
qualified  in  point  of  piety  and  natural  capacity,  it  is 
your  duty  to  help  them,  if  help  they  need,  to  become 
qualified  in  point  of  literature  and  theology.  For  the 
Ministry  requires  furniture  of  earth,  as  well  as  of  hea- 
ven; the  stocking  of  the  head,  as  well  as  the  storing  of 
the  heart.  Ministers  were  once  miraculously  furnished ; 
and  so  furnished  were  they,  that  there  was  not  one  of 
those  apostolical  fishermen  that  could  not,  if  he  pleased, 
entertain  as  well  as  instruct  the  politest  audience.  We 
have  no  such  fishermen  now !  Now,  men  are  furnished 
for  the  Ministry  in  the  ordinary,  and  slow,  and  expen- 


AND    WAY    TO  RELIEVE    THEM.  263 

sive  manner  in  which  they  are  furnished  for  other  em- 
ployments; and  if  in  this  they  need  assistance,  and  you 
can  render  it,  you  ought  to  render  it. 

And  now,  in  concluding  these  remarks,  I  may  observe 
tliat  two  points  of  great  importance  have  been  presented 
in  the  progress  of  them.  Firsts  the  necessity  of  great 
exertions  being  made  at  this  present  time — that  the 
whole  strength  of  the  Church  should  be  put  forth  at  this 
particular  crisis;  that  we  should  all  set  to  at  once  to 
gather  in  and  secure  the  ripened  harvest.  Oh,  that  there 
were  such  a  heart  in  us  !  The  other  is,  that  much  of 
the  strength  of  the  Church  should  be  put  forth  in  prayer 
to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  and  that  she  should  exert  her 
power  more  in  wrestling  with  Him.  There  may  be  some 
danger  of  the  Church's  placing  too  much  reliance  on  mo- 
ney, and  setting  too  little  value  on  prayer.  The  gift  of 
God  cannot  be  purchased  with  money.  It  is  needed,  it 
is  true ;  but  the  widow's  mite,  accompanied  with  her 
prayer,  may  be  worth  more  to  the  cause,  than  the  rich 
man's  munificence  without  it.  It  is  not  money,  it  is  not 
physical  force,  nor  intellectual  effort,  nor  secular  in- 
fluence,  but  prayer  that  operates  upon  the  lever  which 
moves  the  world.  Prayer  is  the  power.  This  was  the 
secret  of  Abraham's  influence  with  heaven — this  the 
mean's  of  Jacob's  prevailing — in  this  lay  the  strength 
of  Elijah.  What  has  it  not  done  ?  What  can  it  not  do? 
It  has  opened  heaven  once,  and  can  do  it  again.  It  can 
remove  moral  mountains.  It  can  save  the  spiritually 
sick.  The  Church  is  omnipotent  by  prayer.  There 
must  be  prayer,  and /nore  prayer,  and  prayer  of  the  right 


264  THE  WANTS  OF  THE    WORLD,  &C. 

kind,  and  prayer  impregnated  with  love,  and  made 
buoj'ant  by  faith,  coming  from  the  heart,  and  carrying 
the  heart  along  with  it,  in  the  name  of  the  great  High 
Priest.  And  then  there  will  be  more  labourers,  and  they 
will  be  labourers  divinely  sent  and  trained;  and  then  there 
will  be  voluntarily  offered  all  the  money  that  is  wanted, 
for  the  silver  and  gold  of  the  world  belong  to  Him  who 
hears  prayer.  And  I  think  we  should  get  more  for  re- 
ligious objects,  if  we  practically  recognized  this  truth, 
and  solicited  God  as  importunately  as  we  sometimes  so- 
licit men.  It  is  at  the  throne  of  grace  that  our  hearts 
are  made  sensitive  to  feel,  and  become  large  to  commu- 
nicate. It  is  there  in  communion  with  God  that  we  ap- 
proximate, as  near  as  we  can,  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
worth  of  the  soul,  and  learn  the  comparative  worthless- 
ness  of  every  thing  but  the  soul.  Oh,  if  a  man  will  but 
pray,  so  as  to  be  heard  on  high,  he  may  do  as  he  pleases 
in  other  things,  for  his  pleasure  will  be  his  duty.  God 
forbid  that  we  should  sin  against  him,  in  not  praying 
the  Lord  the  harvest,  that  he  will  send  forth  labourers 
into  his  harvest. 

God  forbid  that  any  youth  should  go,  unsent  by  Hirn. 
It  were  better  for  him  that  he  had  never  been  born  I  And 
God  forbid,  that  at  such  a  day  as  this,  any  whom  He 
calls  should  refuse  to  go !  He  will  at  last  enter  heaven  if 
he  be  God's  child ;  but  if  that  be  possible,  he  will  enter 
it  with  a  blush  of  shame !  How  can  he  meet  Martyn, 
and  Buchannan,  and  Mills,  and  Urquhart,  and  Paul,  and 
the  Lord  of  the  harvest!  How  can  he  bear  the  sight,  at 
the  last  day,  of  souls  lost,  because,  when  the  Lord  called, 
he  refused! 


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